Location and time specific mobile participation platform

ABSTRACT

A mobile participation platform enables a wireless network operator or third party to solicit response data related to a specific time and location specific event by signaling multiple mobile device users that meet predefined qualifications. The qualifications include presence at the specific location at the specific time, and may include other characteristics, such as prior consent to receive solicitations, and particular device type or data collection functionality. The platform locates mobile devices that may qualify for participation, and generates and transmits a solicitation. Mobile devices receiving the solicitation may activate a participation client to acknowledge the solicitation and to contribute by submitting the requested response data, which may include photos, text, sensor data, audio, video and the like. The qualifications are verified, the response data is validated, and anonymity and privacy are maintained by associating the mobile device and other pertinent non-identifying information with an encrypted identifier.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application No.13/688,159, filed Nov. 28, 2012, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,948,791, which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/637,427, filed Dec.14, 2009, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,335,526.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to wireless communicationnetworks and more specifically, to systems and methods for collectinglocation and time specific data from mobile devices.

BACKGROUND

Advanced technologies incorporated into today's personal communicationdevices have vastly expanded opportunities for mass collaboration, whichhas become known as crowdsourcing. Crowdsourcing refers generally todistributing tasks by soliciting the participation of loosely definedgroups of individual contributors, rather than by establishing formalemployment or contractual relationships to secure the labor. A group ofcontributors may include, for example, individuals responding to asolicitation posted on a certain website, or individuals who aretargeted for market research by some other means. Each contributor mayperform one or more tasks that generate data that contribute to adefined result, such as proofreading part of a digital version of anancient text or analyzing a small quantum of a large volume of data. Thecontributors may also gather and submit data that can be compiled toestablish the existence of trends or conditions, such as trafficdensity. Each contributor may be compensated for the contribution, orparticipation may be rewarded with intangibles such as personalsatisfaction or gaining valuable experience.

Typical crowdsourcing systems and methods indiscriminately acceptparticipation of the contributors, and are limited to static objectives.When implemented in the context of mobile (i.e., portable, wirelessand/or otherwise battery-powered) communication devices such as wirelesstelephones, laptops and PDAs, a potential contributor actively seeks outopportunities by accessing crowdsourcing websites, or makes the wirelesscommunication device available at all times to receive alerts whenopportunities are available. Both alternatives tax battery power and mayincrease data charges or encumber device resources, so crowdsourcing canbe unattractive to device users. Furthermore, crowdsourcing from mobilecontributors can create challenges for data solicitors who may wish todynamically target contributors and define objectives.

Finally, indiscriminate crowdsourcing can increase the load on thecommunications network when unnecessarily large numbers of users aresolicited.

SUMMARY

The various embodiments of the systems and methods of the mobileparticipation platform efficiently utilize communication networks andresources to facilitate the solicitation and collection of data fromanonymous contributors that meet specified criteria, including proximityto a particular location or type of location at a particular time. Themobile participation platform is particularly useful for data collectionin response to the existence of a transient condition, about whichuseful data can be secured from contributors that are particularly wellsituated to provide pertinent information about the transient condition.Advantageously, the mobile participation platform provides thecapability to validate response data from contributors without revealingtheir identities to the solicitor of the data, so that privacy ismaintained without sacrificing data integrity.

The transient condition may be a temporary although scheduledoccurrence, such as an entertainment or sports event, or politicalrally. Occurrence of the transient condition may be spontaneous orunexpected, such as a natural disaster, celebrity sighting, accident orcrime. The transient condition may be entirely defined by the solicitorof the data. For at least these scenarios, a targeted solicitation forcontributors that are in proximity to the transient condition would betailored to result in collection of valuable and useful information forthe solicitor. Accordingly, systems and methods are provided toidentify, detect or specify a transient condition for which datacollection is desired, to define criteria to qualify potentialcontributors as being well-situated to provide the desired data, toalert the qualified potential contributors of the opportunity toparticipate, to collect the desired data from the contributors that doparticipate, to validate the data and the qualifications of thecontributors during or after data collection, and to optionallycompensate the contributors for participation.

According to one aspect, a contributor registry is provided thatcontains records associated with potential contributors. Access to thecontributor registry can be limited by any suitable means for accesscontrol, including authentication protocols, encryption, user-specificfilters and access levels, and the like. Access can be limited to mobilenetwork operators or authenticated third party solicitors via asolicitation server component of the mobile participation platform. Thecontributor registry may be an integral part of or extracted from acommunications network database, such as a Home Location Registry (HLR),or the contributor registry may be a separate database. The contributorregistry defines the set of subscribers to communications servicesprovided by one or more mobile network operators that have the potentialto contribute in response to a solicitation.

In certain embodiments, the contributor registry provides and maintainsanonymity of the potential contributors, for example, by keying on aunique and possibly encrypted mobile participation platform identifier(MPP-ID) that is associated with a unique network identifier that ismaintained in a subscriber database accessible only by the networkoperator. Accordingly, the contributor registry may exclude informationthat would compromise privacy or security of the potential contributors.Encryption of the MPP-ID can be used to prevent unauthorized access anduse of data supplied by a single contributor, for example, by trackingthe contributor using location data collected in multiple solicitations.

In certain embodiments, the contributor registry contains only recordsassociated with subscribers that have been prequalified to potentiallyact as contributors. That is, the contributor registry also defines thecommunity of individuals and associated communication devices that meetthe most basic qualifications for collaboration, such as those who haveprovided consent to be solicited, those who have installed requisiteclient-side software, and who have a suitable device type to enablecollaboration. Characteristics that are appropriate prequalificationswill vary, depending on the nature of the solicitation.

In certain embodiments, a participation client is installed on oraccessible by a mobile device associated with a potential contributor.The participation client facilitates active or passive interactionbetween the potential contributor and a soliciting entity, hereinafterreferred to as the solicitor. The solicitor may be the mobile networkoperator or a third-party. The solicitor uses a solicitation server todefine the transient condition, as well as the prequalifications and thequalifications that must be present for a user to participate as acontributor. As used herein, the terms server and client each refer to acombination of hardware and software that has sufficient processing andcommunications capabilities to deliver and mediate services betweensolicitors, mobile network operators and mobile devices. It should benoted that elements of the solicitation server may be distributed inthat certain functions may be performed in a system controlled by themobile network operator, while others are performed in a system that iscontrolled by a third party solicitor. The software components of thesolicitation server and of the participation client include executableinstructions that are stored on a computer-readable medium and that areexecutable by a processor. The hardware components of the solicitationserver and of the participation client may include dedicated processing,storage, signaling, transceiving or connecting components, or mayconsist of shared hardware resources.

Certain aspects are particularly advantageous when the soliciting entityis a third party. In particular, when the soliciting entity is a thirdparty, the solicitation server is local to or remotely accessible by thethird party solicitor. The solicitor can control the solicitation andparticipation process without having direct access to the mobile networkoperator's systems and customer data, thereby preserving privacy.

In defining the transient condition, the solicitor proactively orreactively specifies a particular location and a particular time thatare associated with the transient condition. The location may beprecisely identified with a set of coordinates or the like, may be amore loosely defined area, or may be one or more geographic locationsthat have a certain characteristic. Examples of location characteristicsinclude location type (e.g., movie theaters, arenas, national parks, andthe like), ambient conditions (e.g., temperature, wind speed, humidity,and the like), and altitude. Location characteristics enable thesolicitor to solicit information from contributors who may be similarlysituated, but at different geographic locations. For example, asolicitor may wish to obtain very granular data such as purchase valuefrom users of all mobile devices that are present at shopping malls onthe Friday after Thanksgiving in cities in which the temperature isabove 50 degrees with no precipitation.

Similarly, the time may be a precisely specified moment, and may be inthe past so as to identify potential contributors who witnessed atransient condition that has already occurred. It follows thatidentification of the transient condition may be reactive, i.e., inresponse to determining that an event or a condition precedent hasoccurred.

According to the nature of the transient condition and of the data thatthe solicitor wishes to collect, certain participation qualificationsare derived from the location and time. That is, the solicitor creates aproximity qualification that limits participation to potentialcontributors that are within a specified distance from the location. Thesolicitor also creates a coincidence qualification that limitsparticipation to potential contributors that are or were at the locationwithin a specified interval in relation to the time of the occurrence ofthe transient condition. As used herein, the term coincidence indicatesthat the mobile device's proximity to the specified location occurredwithin the specified interval of time. The coincidence qualification mayfurther require that the mobile device was in proximity during aspecific part or proportion of the interval.

The nature of the transient condition will determine values for theproximity and coincidence conditions that are appropriate to satisfy theobjective of obtaining useful information. For example, if the transientcondition is the occurrence of a concert, the solicitor may want theparticipation only of contributors that were at the venue during theconcert. Accordingly, the proximity qualification can be set toencompass the venue and the coincidence qualification can be set to aninterval that begins and ends with the concert's scheduled or actualstarting and ending time. Other types of transient conditions maydictate tighter constraints on these qualifications. For example, if atthe aforementioned concert, the entertainer fell off the stage into thecrowd, the solicitor may want the participation only of concert-goerswho were actually in the first few rows of the venue at the specifictime that the entertainer fell.

With the transient condition and the qualifications identified, asolicitation is generated and transmitted to mobile devices that meetthe qualifications, which at minimum, include proximity and coincidence.Those skilled in the art will recognize that any number of otherqualifications can be specified in addition.

The solicitation may consist of a request for the active participationof the user of the mobile device, a notification to the user that thedevice has been selected for passive participation, or a request for theuser to enable or decline passive participation. If the user haspreviously assented to passive participation without notification, thenthe solicitation may consist of interaction directly with the mobiledevice without any notification to or action on the part of the user ofthe mobile device. In such instances, the solicitation may in essence bea handshake in which the solicitation server instructs the mobile deviceto collect and transmit the desired data. On the other hand, the usermay receive notification that passive participation has taken place orwill take place, and the user may have an opportunity to veto passiveparticipation or to supply additional contributor data via active means.

Active participation requires some action on the part of the user of themobile device. For example, the solicitation may begin with notificationthat the solicitor seeks and is willing to pay for photos taken frommobile devices that satisfy certain proximity and coincidencequalifications that correspond to a crime that has just taken place. Amobile device that is qualified receives the notification, which mayautomatically launch or generate a prompt to launch the participationclient. The participation client informs the user that the solicitationis being made, that collecting and submitting photos relevant to thetransient condition (i.e., the crime or the crime scene) are the desiredaction, that incentives are available, and how to participate. The usercan accept the solicitation either by indicating assent, or byperforming the requested action. If the user has taken or can take aphoto that is relevant, the photo is transmitted according to theinstructions for participation, and the incentives are credited orotherwise supplied to the contributor.

As mentioned above, the notification may indicate that passiveparticipation is requested. For example, the participation client mayinform the user that unless the user objects, the mobile device camerawill be automatically activated and will transmit a video stream to thesolicitor.

Notification can be pushed to the device by any suitable known or yet tobe developed protocol or medium, including but not limited to InternetProtocol, Bluetooth®, SMS (Short Message Service), EMS (EnhancedMessaging Service) and MMS (Multimedia Message Service), networksignaling or paging protocols, and the like. For example, certainembodiments utilize Blackberry® Push Email, Apple® Push Notificationservice, Microsoft® Exchange ActiveSync Direct Push Technology, or AJAX(Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) via web browsers. Similarly,contributor data can be transmitted from the mobile device via anysuitable known or yet to be developed protocol or medium.

The solicitation client may define a transient condition of interestregardless of the presence or absence of mobile devices in the locationat the time, thereby generating the solicitation in reaction to theexistence of the transient condition. For example, the solicitor may notknow how many potential contributors meet proximity and coincidencequalifications, just that a transient condition of interest has occurredor will occur.

Alternatively, the solicitor may react to characteristics of users bygenerating a solicitation in response to detecting thosecharacteristics, which may include concentration, mobile device activitylevel, speed, trajectory, and the like. Alternatively, the solicitor maydeclare the existence of a transient condition on the basis of a certainconcentration or combination of users being in a particular place at aparticular time. For example, if a large crowd of users start usingmobile devices simultaneously in a single location, a solicitation mightconsist of the question “what's going on?” or “what are you doing rightnow?” As another example, upon detecting a large number of users rushingtoward or away from a location, the solicitor may generate asolicitation asking users to contribute response data (e.g., text,photos, audio, video, etc.) that will explain what caused the unusualtraffic pattern.

The solicitation may be relayed by the mobile network operator ortransmitted directly by the solicitor to mobile devices that meet thoseand other qualifications. Optionally, the mobile network operator wouldnotify the solicitor of how many mobile devices received thesolicitation. Similarly, the response data are relayed or directlysubmitted to the solicitor.

In certain embodiments, the mobile participation platform enables thesolicitor to directly monitor the location of prequalified mobiledevices, although subscriber identity may be stripped to protectprivacy. However, in certain applications, privacy is not a concern. Forexample, the mobile participation platform is used to solicit passivecontributions of location and time specific response data from mobiledevices associated with animals or vehicles instead of cell phone users.As another example, the solicitor may be the employer of the mobiledevice users that are solicited, and may require the employees torespond to the solicitation with data that also identifies the deviceand/or user (e.g., the solicitor is the operator of a trucking companythat solicits log data if a driver enters a location that is a rest areaduring the worker's shift).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless communications system.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary contributor database.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating some of the components of anexemplary mobile device.

FIG. 4 is a generalized representation of a monitored geography.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method for solicitingthe participation of contributors via a mobile participation platform.

FIG. 6 is a simplified diagram illustrating input and output devices andinterfaces of exemplary mobile device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As required, detailed embodiments of exemplary systems and methods areprovided herein. The disclosed embodiments are merely examples that maybe embodied in various and alternative forms, and combinations thereof.As used herein, for example, exemplary, and similar terms, referexpansively to embodiments that serve as an illustration, specimen,model or pattern. The figures are not necessarily to scale and somefeatures may be exaggerated or minimized, such as to show details ofparticular components. In some instances, well-known components,systems, materials or methods have not been described in detail in orderto avoid obscuring the devices and methods of the present disclosure.Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed hereinare not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for theclaims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the artto variously employ the present disclosure.

Referring now to FIG. 1, the mobile participation platform, whichincludes various components, systems, and associated methods, can beimplemented in any suitable environment, such as exemplary wirelesscommunications system 100. As illustrated, the communications system 100includes a mobile device 102, which is any suitable portablecommunication and processing device such as a cellular telephone,wireless messaging device, computer of any form factor (e.g., laptop,notebook, netbook, PDA, etc.), or the like. The mobile device 102 may beconfigured with a fixed or removable network access card (not shown).

The illustrated mobile device 102 is in communication with a wirelessnetwork 104. As described above, the wireless network 104 may operateaccording to GSM and UMTS standards or other suitable telecommunicationstechnologies. The illustrated wireless network 104 includes a radioaccess network (RAN) 106. The RAN 106 includes at least one basetransceiver station (BTS) (not shown), which are commonly referred to ascell towers. A BTS provides the air/radio interface by which a mobiledevice communicates wirelessly with the wireless network 104. Each BTSis in communication with a base station controller (BSC) (not shown). ABSC allocates radio resources to the mobile device 102, administersfrequencies, and controls handovers between BTSs. A BSC communicateswith a circuit-switched core network and packet-switched core networkvia a mobile switching center (MSC) and serving GPRS support node(SGSN), respectively. The BTSs, BSC, MSC, SGSN and other elements of thecore networks are not illustrated so as not to distract from the variousaspects of the present disclosure.

The wireless network 104 also includes a provisioning system 108, alocation processor 110, an over-the-air (OTA) system 112, a shortmessage service (SMS) center (SMSC) 114, a solicitation server 116, acontributor registry 118, and a network clock 120. The functions ofthese network elements will be described in greater detail. It should beunderstood that, in some embodiments, functions described below as beingperformed by one network element may alternatively be performed byanother network element. In one embodiment, the solicitation server 116or the functions thereof are combined with the location processor 110,or vice versa. In another embodiment, the OTA system 112 andprovisioning system 108 are combined. In other embodiments, the OTAsystem 112 and SMSC 114 are combined. Other combinations of theillustrated network elements that would be logical to improveperformance, reduce costs, or facilitate easier maintenance arecontemplated.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the mobile device 102 is associated with atleast one record 200 in the contributor registry 118. The contributorregistry 118 contains records 200 associated with potentialcontributors, which ideally have been prequalified as potentialcontributors. Each record includes various fields containing dataassociated with the potential contributor, such as but not limited to, auser identifier and a device identifier. Each record 200 contains anumber of fields, any of which may consist of more than one datum. Atminimum, each record includes a unique user identifier (user ID) 202 ordevice identifier (device ID) 204, either of which can be used to obtainthe other from another database, such as an HLR (not shown). Either orboth the user ID 202 or the device ID 204 may include a mobileparticipation platform identifier (MPP-ID). As mentioned above, thecontributor registry 118 may be independent, may coexist in acommunications network database such as the HLR (i.e., may be the samedatabase), or may be extracted from a preexisting database as a view,table or result set of a query.

Each record 200 may include any number of additional fields. Forexample, each record may include prequalification data 206, pastparticipation data 208, incentive schedule coding 210, device type data212, data plan information 214, device status data 216, and the like.

Prequalification data 206 establishes that threshold qualifications aremet. In particular, crowdsourcing raises issues of privacy and consent,so a threshold qualifier may be a consent field that indicates that thepotential contributor has agreed to be alerted and solicited, as well asa solicitation type field to determine the type of solicitation to whichthe user has the willingness or capability to respond. As an option,consent can be requested and obtained on-the-fly at regular intervals,or when a potential contributor is alerted to a particular solicitation,particularly when new or widely variable types of collaboration aresought. Crowdsourcing also presupposes use by the potential contributorof a communication device having the requisite data collection andcommunication capabilities, so other threshold qualifiers may includedevice type and level of activation of its available functionality.Accordingly, exemplary prequalification data 206 includes flagsindicating the giving by the user of consent to be contacted forsolicitations, presence of always-on broadband IP data connectivity,location capability such as GPS, and configurations and device featuressuch as sensors, transducers, accelerometers, light meters,micro-projectors, accurate time-keeping devices, and the like. Pastparticipation data 208 includes information such as history ofparticipation in past solicitations, quality and frequency ofparticipation, incentives earned for past participation and the like.Additional information can be maintained and updated as needed,including demographic data.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a schematic block diagram of one possibleconfiguration of the mobile device 102 is illustrated. Althoughconnections are not shown between the components illustrated in FIG. 3,the components can interact with one another to carry out devicefunctions. In some embodiments, for example, the components are arrangedso as to communicate via one or more busses (not shown). It should beunderstood that FIG. 3 and the following description are intended toprovide a general understanding of a suitable environment in which thevarious aspects of some embodiments of the present disclosure can beimplemented.

In this configuration, the mobile device 102 is a multimode handset witha variety of computer readable media, including, for example, volatilemedia, non-volatile media, removable media, and non-removable media. Theterm computer-readable media and variants thereof, as used in thespecification and claims, refer to storage media and communicationmedia. Storage media may include volatile and/or non-volatile,removable, and/or nonremovable media, such as, but not limited to randomaccess memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EEPROM), solid state memory or othermemory technology, CD ROM, DVD, or other optical disk storage, magnetictape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or anyother medium that can be used to store the desired information and thatcan be accessed by the mobile device 102.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the mobile device 102 includes display 302 forconveying multimedia content such as application graphical userinterfaces (GUIs), text, images, video, telephony functions, such asCaller ID data, setup functions, menus, voicemail message waitingidentifiers (MWIs), music, metadata, messages, wallpaper, graphics,Internet content, device status, preferences settings, map and locationdata, profile (e.g., vibrate, silent, loud) selection, and the like. Theillustrated mobile device 102 also includes a device processor 304 forprocessing data and/or executing computer-executable instructions of oneor more applications 308, and a memory 306 for storing data and/or oneor more of the applications.

In some embodiments, the applications 308 include a participation client310. The participation client 310 interfaces with an operating system(OS) 312 to facilitate user control or awareness of interaction betweenthe solicitation server 116 and device functionality and data. In someembodiments, the OS 312 is one of Symbian OS, Microsoft® Windows® MobileOS (available from Microsoft® Corporation of Redmond, Wash.), Palm®webOS™ (available from Palm® Corporation of Sunnyvale, Calif.), Palm® OS(available from Palm® Corporation), RIM® BlackBerry® OS (available fromResearch In Motion Limited of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada), Apple® iPhone®OS (available from Apple® Corporation of Cupertino, Calif.), or GoogleAndroid™ OS (available from Google™ Inc. of Mountain View, Calif.).These operating systems are merely exemplary of the operating systemsthat may be used in accordance with the embodiments disclosed herein.

The participation client 310 aids a user in entering message content,viewing received messages (which may be multimedia messages, SMSmessages, voicemail messages, visual voicemail messages, and the like),managing messages, answering/initiating calls, entering/deleting data,entering and setting user IDs and passwords for device access,configuring settings, manipulating address book content and/or settings,multimode interaction, interacting with the operating system 312 as wellas other applications 314, and the like. In some embodiments, the otherapplications 314 include, for example, general graphical user interface(GUI) applications, visual voicemail applications, messagingapplications (e.g., SMS, EMS, MMS applications), presence applications,text-to-speech applications, speech-to-text applications, add-ons,plug-ins, email applications, music applications, video applications,camera applications, location service applications (LSAs), powerconservation applications, game applications, productivity applications,entertainment applications, enterprise applications, combinationsthereof, and the like. The executable instructions that implement theapplications 308 are stored in computer-readable media in either or boththe memory 306 and firmware 316, and are executed by the deviceprocessor 304. The firmware 316 generally controls basic functions ofthe mobile device 102, such as its power-up and soft-reboot operations,and may but does not necessarily reside in read-only media.

The illustrated mobile device 102 also includes an input/output (I/O)interface 318 for input/output of data, such as, for example, voicemailaccount information requests, visual voicemail management, locationinformation, presence status information, user IDs, passwords, andapplication initiation (start-up) requests. In some embodiments, the I/Ointerface 318 utilizes a hardwired connection, such as, for example, aUSB, mini-USB, audio jack, PS2, IEEE 1394, serial, parallel, Ethernet(RJ48) port, RJ11 port, or the like. In some embodiments, the I/Ointerface 318 accepts other I/O devices (602, below) such as, keyboards,keypads, mice, interface tethers, stylus pens, printers, thumb drives,touch screens, multi-touch screens, touch pads, trackballs, joysticks,microphones, remote control devices, monitors, displays, liquid crystaldisplays (LCDs), combinations thereof, and the like. It should beappreciated that the I/O interface 318 may be used for communicationsbetween the mobile device 102 and a network or local device, instead of,or in addition to, a communications component 320.

The communications component 320 interfaces with the processor 304 tofacilitate wired/wireless communications with external systems. Exampleexternal systems include, but are not limited to, intranets, networkdatabases, network storage systems, cellular networks, location servers,presence servers, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) networks, localarea networks (LANs), wide area networks (WANs), metropolitan areanetworks (MANs), personal area networks (PANs), and other networks. Insome embodiments, the communications component 320 includes a multimodecommunications subsystem for providing cellular communications viadifferent cellular technologies. In some embodiments, for example, afirst cellular transceiver 322 operates in one mode, such as, GSM, andan Nth cellular transceiver 324 operates in a different mode, such asUMTS. While only two cellular transceivers 322, 324 are illustrated, itshould be appreciated that a plurality of transceivers can be included.

The illustrated communications component 320 also includes analternative communications transceiver 326 for use by othercommunications technologies such as, for example, WIFI, WIMAX,BLUETOOTH, infrared, infrared data association (IRDA), near fieldcommunications (NFC), radio frequency (RF), and the like. In someembodiments, the communications component 320 also facilitates receptionfrom terrestrial radio networks, digital satellite radio networks,Internet based radio services networks, combinations thereof, and thelike.

The communications component 320 processes data from a network such as,for example, the Internet, an intranet, a home broadband network, a WIFIhotspot, and the like, via an ISP, DSL provider, or broadband provider.In some embodiments, the communications component 320 facilitates thetransmission of authentication and data validation information from themobile device 102 to a network for processing. Audio capabilities forthe mobile device 102 can be provided by an I/O device such as audio I/Ocomponent 328, which includes a speaker for the output of audio signalsand a microphone to collect audio signals.

The illustrated mobile device 102 also includes a slot interface 330 foraccommodating a subscriber identity system 332 such as, for example, asubscriber identity module (SIM) card or universal SIM (USIM) card.Alternatively, the subscriber identity system 332 may be manufacturedinto the device 300, thereby obviating the need for a slot interface330. In some embodiments, the subscriber identity system 332 isprogrammed by a manufacturer, a retailer, a user, a computer, a networkoperator, or the like. The subscriber identity system 332 may beconfigured to store voicemail account information, such as voicemailpasswords and pilot numbers.

The illustrated mobile device 102 also includes an image capture andprocessing system 334 (image system). Photos may be obtained via anassociated image capture subsystem of the image system 334, for example,a camera. The illustrated mobile device 102 also includes a video system336 for capturing, processing, recording, modifying, and/or transmittingvideo content. Photos and videos obtained using the image system 334 andthe video system 336, respectively, may be added as message content toan MMS message and sent to another mobile device.

The illustrated mobile device 102 also includes a location component 338for sending and receiving signals such as, for example, GPS data,assisted GPS (A-GPS) data, WIFI/WIMAX and cellular network triangulationdata, combinations thereof, and the like, for determining a location ofthe mobile device 102. In some embodiments, the location component 338interfaces with cellular network nodes, telephone lines, satellites,location transmitters and/or beacons, wireless network transmitters andreceivers, for example, WIFI hotspots, radio transmitters, combinationsthereof, and the like. Using the location component 338, the mobiledevice 102 obtains, generates, and/or receives data to identify itslocation, or transmits data used by other devices to determine thelocation of the mobile device 102. The illustrated mobile device 102also includes a power source 340, such as batteries and/or other powersubsystem (AC or DC). The power source 340 can interface with anexternal power system or charging equipment via a power I/O component342.

The illustrated mobile device 102 also includes a device clock 344 thatdetermines current time. In some embodiments, the device clock 344 issynchronized with or in relation to the network clock 120, whichprovides the current time to the solicitation server 116. In otherwords, the offset between the device clock 344 and the network clock 120is known, which enables the platform to specify coincidence times with ahigh level of precision.

Accordingly, the mobile device 102 is well equipped with components andinterfaces that enable reception, collection and transmission of audio,video and alphanumeric data. In certain embodiments, in addition to theI/O components (including audio I/O 328, image system 334, video system336, and display 302), the mobile device 102 is further equipped withcomponents that sense or otherwise collect other data, such as 1) fromthe external environment: light, motion, temperature, magnetic fields,gravity, humidity, vibration, pressure, presence of certain molecules,and electrical fields, 2) from the mobile device: internal devicetemperature and magnitude of fields generated, and 3) from the user:metabolic data and vital signs (e.g., glucose level, oxygen level, bodytemperature, heart rate, respiration, and the like) and internalchemistry (e.g., presence of hormones, neurotransmitters, pathogens, andthe like). Such biometric measurements are particularly useful inapplications that seek to determine the response to certain stimuli orconditions. For example, the solicitor can learn whether a ringing cellphone raises the heart rate of its user by securing advance permissionsto collect that data whenever the user's phone rings. As anotherexample, a solicitor may want to learn how the vital signs of birdsequipped with cellular transceivers change when the birds are locatedwithin a power substation.

With reference to FIG. 4, using any suitable known or yet to bedeveloped monitoring and geolocation technologies, a solicitor monitorsor selects a particular geography 400 as relevant with respect to theoccurrence of one or more transient conditions. As used herein, atransient condition is simply the existence of a scenario that isassociated with a particular location and time, and that generatesresponse data that is collectable at that location and time, or from amobile device that was present at that location and time. The transientcondition can be triggered by an event or can be defined as a premise.For example, a solicitor may define a transient condition to identifyany location at an elevation of 2000 feet or greater at which thetemperature is less than 28 degrees at noon on Aug. 21, 2009. It followsthat the same transient condition can be found at more than onelocation.

FIG. 4 is a generalized representation of the monitored geography 400,the representation of which may be for example, generated and displayedon a screen by an application associated with or running on thesolicitation server 116. Referring also to FIG. 5, an exemplary method500 for implementing the mobile participation platform is described,starting at step 502 with selecting a geography 400 to be monitored ordesignated for possible solicitations. The geography 400 may be definedas desired, such as by a particular set of map coordinates, politicalsubdivision (e.g., city, state, country, and the like), wireless networksubdivision, cell (i.e., area of radio coverage in a cellular network)or group of cells, mobile network coverage area, and the like.

At step 504, a transient condition is identified at one or morelocations L. For example, in FIG. 4, transient conditions have beendetected or specified at locations L1, L2, and L3. Location L1 is aneighborhood bounded by several specific streets. Location L2 is anotherneighborhood bounded by streets and highways. Location L3 is defined bythe extent of an occurrence that has irregular boundaries. As describedabove, the definition of what constitutes a transient condition dependson the specifications of the solicitor.

At step 506, the solicitor designates as qualifications certaincharacteristics of users or mobile devices that will (in step 514)identify potential contributors that are well situated to provide usefuldata about at least one transient condition identified at step 504.Ideally, the characteristics are tailored to the particular transientcondition to optimize the value or quality of the response datacontributed. In some instances, data optimization will be balanced withcost that will be incurred in paying incentives or in transmitting asolicitation or receiving the response data.

At minimum, the step of designating qualifications will includespecifying a proximity qualification (step 508) and specifying acoincidence qualification (step 510). To define the proximityqualification, the location L of the transient condition is determinedand expressed via any known or yet to be developed geolocationtechnology and means for expressing location (e.g., coordinate system,cartography, grid systems, plans, maps, and the like). Based on thelocation L associated with the transient condition, the proximityqualification is defined to limit participation to mobile devices thatare wholly or partially in the location or wholly or partially within anexpanded area A that encompasses the location L. The area A may bedetermined, for example, as being within a specified radius of thecenter point of the location L.

The coincidence qualification is defined to limit participation tomobile devices that meet the proximity qualification at a timeassociated with the transient condition (e.g., start time, end time,time detected, and the like). The coincidence qualification may be awindow of time such that the requisite proximity occurs wholly during,partially during, or within a certain interval of the time specified bythe solicitor.

At step 512, all qualifications are specified. Some of these may beprequalifications that were specified and applied prior to step 502 orstep 504 to limit the pool of potential contributors. As such, it isclear that the steps in method 500 need not be performed in the ordershown, and that some steps can be partially performed at one time andcompleted at another time.

Similarly, identification of potential contributors (step 514) can occurat least in part in advance of the occurrence of the transient conditionby applying pre-qualifications to define or select from records in thecontributor registry 118 (step 516). In step 518, the solicitationserver 116 obtains presence data to determine the location (present, orat the time of the transient condition) of potential contributors. To doso, the approximate location of each prequalified potential contributoris determined using any known or yet to be developed protocol forlocating mobile devices, such as by interrogating the HLR and/or VLR inwhich the mobile device is registered. The approximate presence datawill include an approximate time as well.

Each of the potential contributors determined to have approximatepresence data that corresponds to a location that at least nearlysatisfies the proximity qualification receives a preliminary alert thatinstructs the mobile device to wake up and perform more accuratelocation determination. This more accurate presence data can be securedwith or without any knowledge of the potential contributors, dependingon the privacy level desired. In certain embodiments, the location isvalidated only if the approximate and more accurate locations areconsistent.

Referring back to FIG. 4, as potential contributors are located eitherapproximately or precisely, representations (not shown) may appear viathe interface generated by the solicitation server 116 and may besuperimposed over the geography 400, to give the solicitor a visualindication of the number of potential contributors that meet thequalifications. To increase or decrease the number of potentialcontributors that are eligible, the solicitor may add, subtract, oralter qualifications and their values on the fly.

At step 520, all other qualifications are applied, which ideally occurseither before or after the more accurate locations are determined, butnot before the approximate locations are determined. In other words, topreserve system resources, it is desirable to minimize the number ofrecords involved in each query of the contributor registry 118.Accordingly, approximate locations are used to disqualify potentialcontributors before comparing the data fields in its records 200 to allof the qualifications determined in step 506.

The proximity qualification can be applied by the mobile networkoperator, in which case, the locations of mobile devices are determinedby the mobile network operator and can be withheld or stripped ofidentifying data to maintain privacy or anonymity.

Before, after, or during identification of potential contributors atstep 514, the method at step 522 generates the solicitation that will becommunicated to the potential contributors that meet the designatedqualifications. The solicitation may be developed and formattedaccording to any known or yet to be developed communications protocol.

At step 524, the solicitation is communicated to the potentialcontributors that are qualified to respond. In the exemplaryembodiments, the solicitation is transmitted using SMS messaging andsignaling protocols, although it should be readily appreciated thatsolicitations can be communicated in any number of ways, including viavoice calls, data sessions, multimedia messages, and the like. In step526, and with further reference to FIG. 6, transmitting the solicitationmay have the objective of notifying the potential contributors bydisplaying the basic information associated with the alerts, promptingthe potential contributor to launch the participation client 310 tocheck for alerts (short messages that indicate that a solicitation isoutstanding), automatically initiating passive contribution byautomatically retrieving data from the mobile device 102, or by anycombination of notification, prompting, pushing data, pulling data, orother interaction between the solicitor and the potential contributor.

At step 528, and with further reference to FIG. 6, if the potentialcontributor agrees or has previously agreed to contribute the requesteddata, he or she may so indicate by responding to a solicitation via theparticipation client 310. A response may be an indication of intent toprovide the data, such as by clicking YES in response to receiving analert 600, by vetoing a notification that automatic data retrieval ispending. Alternatively, the response may be communicated simply by thecontributor transmitting the requested data either actively orpassively. In some situations, the solicitation may specify that theresponse data must be transmitted within a certain timeframe, inaddition to requirement that the response data be collected at a timethat satisfies the coincidence qualification.

Referring now to FIG. 6, the display 302 may present alerts that mayinclude relevant information about a solicitation, such as the date,time, type of solicitation, status of solicitation (i.e., new, unread,read, saved, expired, ongoing, accepted, rejected or deleted), andsource of solicitation. Additional information about the solicitationmay be accessible to the user via successively deeper GUI dialogscreens, detail screens or links to webpages. The alerts are accessedusing the participation client 310, which may be installed on the mobiledevice at manufacture, or downloaded, installed or provisioned (such asvia the provisioning system 108), either manually or automatically, andeither locally or remotely (such as via the OTA system 112).

Referring again to FIG. 5, at step 532, the mobile participationplatform performs verification and validation of contributions receivedto prevent hacking as well as inadvertent or dishonest submission ofdata by contributors. Some of the verification and validation tasks maybe distributed so as to be concomitant with any one or more of the stepsof the method 500. As a nonlimiting example, the task of validating theresponse data to ensure that it conforms to the solicitation may createa condition precedent to crediting incentives, in which case it would beperformed before step 530. Verifying the location and coincidence of thecollection of response data may be performed, at least in part, prior tocommunicating the solicitation, or prior to accepting the response dataas reliable.

Verification and validation can be accomplished using any suitablemeans, now known or yet to be developed. In the exemplary embodiment,contributor responses are encrypted using the MPP-ID in the device ID204. Compliance with coincidence qualification requirements is confirmedby embedding in the contribution packets timestamps and location datagenerated by the mobile or GPS network.

Verification and validation may also include preemptive measures. Forexample, in the exemplary embodiment, location data is communicated tothe potential contributor in a user-friendly fashion. That is, ratherthan providing numerical coordinates that can easily be copied andhard-coded by unqualified contributors, the location is communicatedusing plain language as shown in FIG. 6. For example, the user may beinformed of the location of interest by name or type of location (e.g.,“by the fountain in the mall”), by distance and trajectory (e.g., “20yards north of you”), or without specificity in the abstract (e.g.,“where you are standing right now”).

Returning to FIG. 5, incentives may be paid at step 530. For example,incentives may be in the form of financial, symbolic, or fungiblecredits, to reward or encourage potential contributors for responding toa solicitation with response data. In some embodiments, incentivepayments are conditioned upon validation of the data (i.e., ensuringthat the response data is of the type and quality requested), of thecontributor's identity, or of the qualifications (i.e., ensuring thatthe contributor actually met the qualifications, including that thelocation and coincidence data relied on was accurate). Incentives neednot be consistent from one contributor to the next. Rather, incentivelevels for certain types of solicitations and response data may beuser-specific and stored in the contributor registry 200 as incentiveschedule 210. Furthermore, incentive levels may be impacted by positiveor negative past participation data 208, for instance, or according tothe importance of the data being requested in a particular solicitation.

In some embodiments, response data is pulled. In other embodiments,response data is pushed or otherwise actively returned by attachingcontent to messages returned to the solicitor via email, SMS, MMS,direct upload, and the like. The response data can be collected usingany or any combination of the mobile device's I/O components, includingthe keyboard 604, touchpad 606 or other pointing device, and sensor 608.

Among other advantages, it should be noted that all of the transactionswith contributors and potential contributors can take place anonymously.More specifically, the identity of an individual person or mobile deviceneed not be revealed, particularly to a third party solicitor, in thecourse of populating the contributor registry 118, provisioning theparticipation client 310, identifying or locating potential contributors(at 514), communicating a solicitation (at 524), receiving response data(at 528), and verifying and validating response data (at 532).

The systems and methods of the present disclosure may be implemented inwireless networks that use exemplary telecommunications standards, suchas Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) and a Universal MobileTelecommunications System (UMTS). It should be understood, however, thatthe systems and methods may be implemented in wireless networks that useany existing or yet to be developed telecommunications technology. Someexamples of other suitable telecommunications technologies include, butare not limited to, networks utilizing Time Division Multiple Access(TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Wideband CodeDivision Multiple Access (WCDMA), Orthogonal Frequency DivisionMultiplexing (OFDM), and various other 2G, 2.5G, 3G, and above (e.g., 4Gand beyond) technologies. Examples of suitable data bearers include, butare not limited to, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Enhanced Datarates for Global Evolution (EDGE), the High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA)protocol family, such as, High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSPDA),Enhanced Uplink (EUL) or otherwise termed High-Speed Uplink PacketAccess (HSUPA), Evolved HSPA (HSPA+), and various other current andfuture data bearers.

Although certain embodiments are described in the context of wirelesscommunications, the present teachings are equally applicable to whenimplemented with devices that are not necessarily mobile devices, suchas fixed wireless devices (e.g., wireless security system transceivers)and VoIP (voice over internet protocol) devices.

While the methods described herein may, at times, be described in ageneral context of computer-executable instructions, the methods of thepresent disclosure can be implemented in combination with other programmodules and/or as a combination of hardware and software. The termapplication, or variants thereof, is used expansively herein to includeroutines, program modules, programs, components, data structures,algorithms, and the like. Applications can be implemented on varioussystem configurations, including servers, network systems,single-processor or multiprocessor systems, minicomputers, mainframecomputers, personal computers, hand-held computing devices, mobiledevices, microprocessor-based, programmable consumer electronics,combinations thereof, and the like.

It follows that the embodiments described are merely exemplaryillustrations of implementations set forth for a clear understanding ofthe principles of the disclosure. Variations, modifications, andcombinations may be made to the above-described embodiments withoutdeparting from the scope of the claims. All such variations,modifications, and combinations are included herein by the scope of thisdisclosure and the following claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: a processor; and acomputer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, whenexecuted by the processor, cause the processor to perform operationscomprising: determining a corresponding approximate location for each ofa plurality of mobile devices, identifying, from the plurality of mobiledevices, a subset of the plurality of mobile devices that, based on thecorresponding approximate location determined for each of the subset ofthe plurality of mobile devices, is within a specified distance from alocation associated with a transient condition, determining acorresponding location for each of the subset of the plurality of mobiledevices, wherein the corresponding location for each of the subset ofthe plurality of mobile devices is more accurate than the correspondingapproximate location for each of the subset of the plurality of mobiledevices, identifying, from the subset of the plurality of mobiledevices, at least one mobile device that, based on the correspondingapproximate location of the at least one mobile device and thecorresponding location of the at least one mobile device, is within thespecified distance from the location associated with the transientcondition, determining that the at least one mobile device is within thespecified distance from the location associated with the transientcondition during an interval corresponding to a time associated with thetransient condition, and in response to determining that the at leastone mobile device is within the specified distance from the locationassociated with the transient condition based on the correspondingproximate location of the at least one mobile device and further basedon the corresponding location of the at least one mobile device and inresponse to determining that the at least one mobile device is withinthe specified distance from the location associated with the transientcondition during the interval corresponding to the time associated withthe transient condition, initiating a transmission to the at least onemobile device, wherein the transmission requests that the at least onemobile device contributes response data.
 2. The system of claim 1,wherein the specified distance from the location associated with thetransient condition is designated by a solicitor, and wherein thetransmission requesting the response data is provided by the solicitor.3. The system of claim 1, wherein determining the correspondingapproximate location for each of the plurality of mobile devicescomprises interrogating a corresponding home location registry in whicheach of the plurality of mobile devices is registered for thecorresponding approximate location.
 4. The system of claim 1, whereindetermining the corresponding location for each of the subset of theplurality of mobile devices comprises instructing each of the subset ofthe plurality of mobile devices to perform a location determination forthe corresponding location.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein each ofthe plurality of mobile devices has met a threshold qualification, andwherein the threshold qualification comprises an agreement, from acorresponding user of each of the plurality of mobile devices, to bealerted and solicited.
 6. The system of claim 5, wherein the locationassociated with the transient condition comprises one or moregeographical locations having a particular characteristic, wherein theparticular characteristic comprises at least one of a temperature, alevel of humidity, an amount of precipitation, a wind speed, analtitude, or a location type.
 7. The system of claim 6, wherein thelocation type comprises a movie theater, an arena, a shopping mall, or anational park.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the transient conditionis based on a certain concentration of users at the location during thetime.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein the transient condition is basedon a number of users moving away from the location during the time. 10.A non-transitory computer-readable storage device comprisinginstructions that, when executed by a processor of a system, cause theprocessor to perform operations comprising: determining a correspondingapproximate location for each of a plurality of mobile devices;identifying, from the plurality of mobile devices, a subset of theplurality of mobile devices that, based on the corresponding approximatelocation determined for each of the subset of the plurality of mobiledevices, is within a specified distance from a location associated witha transient condition; determining a corresponding location for each ofthe subset of the plurality of mobile devices, wherein the correspondinglocation for each of the subset of the plurality of mobile devices ismore accurate than the corresponding approximate location for each ofthe subset of the plurality of mobile devices; identifying, from thesubset of the plurality of mobile devices, at least one mobile devicethat, based on the corresponding approximate location of the at leastone mobile device and the corresponding location of the at least onemobile device, is within the specified distance from the locationassociated with the transient condition; determining that the at leastone mobile device is within the specified distance from the locationassociated with the transient condition during an interval correspondingto a time associated with the transient condition; and in response todetermining that the at least one mobile device is within the specifieddistance from the location associated with the transient condition basedon the corresponding proximate location of the at least one mobiledevice and further based on the corresponding location of the at leastone mobile device and in response to determining that the at least onemobile device is within the specified distance from the locationassociated with the transient condition during the intervalcorresponding to the time associated with the transient condition,initiating a transmission to the at least one mobile device, wherein thetransmission requests that the at least one mobile device contributesresponse data.
 11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage deviceof claim 10, wherein the specified distance from the location associatedwith the transient condition is designated by a solicitor, and whereinthe transmission requesting the response data is provided by thesolicitor.
 12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage device ofclaim 10, wherein determining the corresponding approximate location foreach of the plurality of mobile devices comprises interrogating acorresponding home location registry in which each of the plurality ofmobile devices is registered for the corresponding approximate location.13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage device of claim 10,wherein determining the corresponding location for each of the subset ofthe plurality of mobile devices comprises instructing each of the subsetof the plurality of mobile devices to perform a location determinationfor the corresponding location.
 14. The non-transitory computer-readablestorage device of claim 10, wherein the location associated with thetransient condition comprises one or more geographical locations havinga particular characteristic, wherein the particular characteristiccomprises at least one of a temperature, a level of humidity, an amountof precipitation, a wind speed, an altitude, or a location type.
 15. Amethod comprising: determining, by a system comprising a processor, acorresponding approximate location for each of a plurality of mobiledevices; identifying, by the system, from the plurality of mobiledevices, a subset of the plurality of, mobile devices that, based on thecorresponding approximate location determined for each of the subset ofthe plurality of mobile devices, is within a specified distance from alocation associated with a transient condition; determining, by thesystem, a corresponding location for each of the subset of the pluralityof mobile devices, wherein the corresponding location for each of thesubset of the plurality of mobile devices is more accurate than thecorresponding approximate location for each of the subset of theplurality of mobile devices; identifying, by the system, from the subsetof the plurality of mobile devices, at least one mobile device that,based on the corresponding approximate location of the at least onemobile device and the corresponding location of the at least one mobiledevice, is within the specified distance from the location associatedwith the transient condition; determining that the at least one mobiledevice is within the specified distance from the location associatedwith the transient condition during an interval corresponding to a timeassociated with the transient condition; and in response to determiningthat the at least one mobile device is within the specified distancefrom the location associated with the transient condition based on thecorresponding proximate location of the at least one mobile device andfurther based on the corresponding location of the at least one mobiledevice and in response to determining that the at least one mobiledevice is within the specified distance from the location associatedwith the transient condition during the interval corresponding to thetime associated with the transient condition, initiating, by the system,a transmission to the at least one mobile device, wherein thetransmission requests that the at least one mobile device contributesresponse data.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the specifieddistance from the location associated with the transient condition isdesignated by a solicitor, and wherein the transmission requesting theresponse data is provided by the solicitor.
 17. The method of claim 15,wherein determining the corresponding approximate location for each ofthe plurality of mobile devices comprises interrogating a correspondinghome location registry in which each of the plurality of mobile devicesis registered for the corresponding approximate location.
 18. The methodof claim 15, wherein determining the corresponding location for each ofthe subset of the plurality of mobile devices comprises instructing eachof the subset of the plurality of mobile devices to perform a locationdetermination for the corresponding location.